Australian Catholic University sociologist Bryan Turner says optional census questions, such as the proposed questions on sexual and gender identity, are useless for data collection. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Optional questions pose many problems to researchers like non-response bias, low response rates, incomplete data sets, skewed results and inconsistent comparisons, Professor Turner said.
His comments come after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ordered the Australian Bureau of Statistics to cancel testing of new census questions around sexual and gender identity last week before reversing his decision after criticism from advocates and members of his own party.
As it stands, the census will include questions on sexual and gender identity, with the caveat that answering them would be optional.
Professor Turner said the media often dubbed the census a “snapshot of Australia”, but its most useful purpose was to track trends over a long period.
“The census is a conservative document,” he said.
“You have to convince the government that you’re addressing an important and neglected issue.
“There have been modifications to religion questions over time, and health issues have been dominant for new additions.
“But overall, the census doesn’t change rapidly because we need to track data over long periods – 10, 20, or even 50 years.
“If you keep changing the questions, you lose the ability to track trends.”
He said advocates needed to have good reasons to include questions on sexual and gender diversity over the course of decades.
A joint statement signed by numerous institutes studying, in part, sexual and gender identity at the University of New South Wales said there was an urgent need for accurate data on sexual and gender diversity.
Professor Turner said if it were up to him, he would want to include questions about the state of older retired Australians or even a question on the happiness of Australians.
“I am also interested in the survival of churches – not just for their religious role, but because they’re important for the continuity of families,” he said.
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ACU demographer says making questions optional on census mean they are useless for data analysis (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
